Inside Slant, Matchups, Quotes, Injuries, Etc

Site Staff

11/17/2005

Their playoff hopes teetering on the brink of extinction, the Eagles
will have a new face at quarterback Sunday when they travel to the
Meadowlands to face the New York Giants.

Donovan McNabb, who aggravated his injured groin trying to undo the
damage of a game-costing interception late in the fourth quarter of
Monday night's 21-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, has been ruled out of
the Giants game, and probably will be sidelined for a lot longer than
that.

Replacing him will be Mike McMahon, who will be making just his
eighth NFL start and his first since 2002 when he was with the Detroit Lions.

"It's a little more pressure," admitted McMahon, who signed with the
Eagles as a free agent in the off-season and spent the first nine games
as the team's No. 3 quarterback behind McNabb and Koy Detmer. "It's the
real thing. You have to be ready. It's the situation I've been waiting
for."

It's certainly not the situation the Eagles have been waiting for. A
team that believed it was going to make it back to the Super Bowl this
season has lost three in a row and sits in last place in the NFC East,
which it has dominated for the last four years, with a 4-5 record.

Its best wide receiver, perhaps the best wide receiver in the league,
Terrell Owens, is history after being suspended for conduct detrimental
to the team. And now, McNabb, who has struggled all season while playing
with a painful sports hernia, also is on the sideline.

He was scheduled to be examined by a specialist on Thursday, and
there's a good possibility he'll be advised to shut it down for the
season and have surgery to repair the sports hernia.

Meanwhile, the Eagles offense, which has failed to put up more than
21 points in its past five games, now is in the hands of McMahon, who
has thrown just 308 regular-season passes in 4 1/2 NFL seasons.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to win," said McMahon, who very
nearly brought the Eagles back Monday night after replacing McNabb on
the team's final possession. His perfectly thrown pass to rookie wideout
Reggie Brown, which would have given the Eagles a first down inside the
Dallas 20 and an easy game-winning field opportunity for David Akers,
was dropped. He still managed to complete two passes and run for a
9-yard gain. Akers' desperation 60-yard field goal try was short. "I
haven't started in a while, but it's not about starting. It's about
going out and being productive in the offense."

While McMahon was the team's No. 3 quarterback, that was just a
technicality because of the fact that Detmer is Akers' holder. It's
always been assumed that if McNabb ever went down for any length of
time, McMahon would be the starter.

"It's nothing against Koy," Reid said. "I feel like I have two
quarterbacks that I trust. The one thing Mike gives you is a little more
mobility." Not to mention a stronger, if often inaccurate, arm.

What the Eagles want most from McMahon on Sunday is as few mistakes
as possible. The Giants are second in the NFC in takeaways with 25. They
have one of the league's top pass-rushing tandems in ends Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, who have combined for 15 1/2 sacks.

"I've just got to go out and be productive," McMahon said. "Do the
right thing with the football. Take care of it and don't turn it over.
Just try to get the most out of every play."

SERIES HISTORY: 143rd meeting. Giants lead the series, 75-65-2. The
Eagles have won the last four meetings and seven of the last eight.

NOTES, QUOTES

--Andy Reid has taken a lot of heat for his decision to throw the
ball on the ill-fated second-and-7 play with 2:53 left in the game
Monday night and the Eagles ahead 20-14. Donovan McNabb tried to hit
wide receiver Reggie Brown on a sideline route but never saw Cowboys
strong safety Roy Williams. McNabb's pass went straight to Williams, who
returned it 46 yards for what turned out to be the game-winning
touchdown. "As we sit here today, I'm not feeling that great about (the
call)," Reid said. "But do I think it was the right thing to do? Yeah.
When you're trying to win the game, it was the right thing to do. But
they covered it. They did a good job with it." Reid called the play "one
of our lower-risk (pass) plays." Brown was running a go route and McNabb
was supposed to throw the ball to his back shoulder. The problem was,
McNabb never saw Williams, who was reading McNabb's eyes and floated
over about 10 yards in front of Brown.

--Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard, who was voted to the Pro Bowl last
season, continues to struggle. He gave up a 20-yard touchdown pass to
Terry Glenn with 3:04 left in Monday's game that pulled the Cowboys to
within six, 20-14. Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson called a blitz on
the first-down play. But they didn't execute it very well. "They
double-moved Lito," Reid said. "We had a blitz on, but didn't get
everybody rushing the passer like we needed to, and in the right spots.
Lito was banking on (the rush getting to Drew Bledsoe). When you do a
max blitz, as a corner, you bank on the fact that the blitz is going to
get home and you can challenge that corner a little bit. But we didn't
execute it very well."

--The grievance hearing on wide receiver Terrell Owens' four-game
suspension will be held Friday at the Eagles' NovaCare training
facility. Owens' grievance will be heard by arbitrator Richard Bloch, a
Washington Redskins season ticket holder from D.C. Bloch only will make
a determination on the fairness of the four-game suspension the Eagles
levied on Owens for conduct detrimental to the team. He will not rule on
whether the Eagles can prevent Owens from playing after the suspension
is over, which they said they will do. What Owens would like is to be
released, so that he could finish the season with another team. But for
now, the Eagles have no interest in giving him his freedom.

--The Eagles have allowed just 19 sacks on 395 pass plays this
season. That's just one sack every 20.8 pass plays, which is the best
sacks-to-pass plays ratio by the team since 1981.

--The Eagles started using running back Brian Westbrook as a punt
returner Monday night in the loss to Dallas. He had 22- and 23-yard
returns.

Including his four punt returns, Westbrook had 25 touches in the
Cowboys game. It's only the third time in his career that he's had 25 or
more touches in a game.

BY THE NUMBERS: 4-for-28 - The Eagles' ratio of scoring on
first-quarter possessions this season. They've been outscored 69-28 in
the first quarter.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "He is going to come out and play quarterback. That is
what he is going to do; run the offense. I don't think anyone here is
thinking (that he's a savior). We feel like he's a good quarterback and
that he will come in and execute the offense." - Eagles coach Andy Reid
on Mike McMahon

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

The Eagles signed quarterback Jeff Smoker to the practice squad
Wednesday. It's likely that he'll be added to the 53-man roster in the
next couple of days and serve as the No. 3 quarterback against the
Giants on Sunday. Right now, the emergency quarterback behind starter
Mike McMahon and Koy Detmer is tight end/long snapper Mike Bartrum.

The Eagles likely will use running back Brian Westbrook to return
punts again Sunday. He had 22- and 23-yard returns Monday night against
the Cowboys. The Eagles will continue to use sure-handed Reno Mahe on
punts close to the goal line. PLAYER/PERSONNEL NOTES

--QB Donovan McNabb will miss Sunday's game after aggravating his
groin injury against the Cowboys. There's a good possibility he could be
shut down for the season.

--QB Mike McMahon will make his eighth NFL start Sunday against the
Giants. McMahon, who signed as a free agent with the Eagles in the
off-season, will replace injured Donovan McNabb.

--TE L.J. Smith is listed as questionable for Sunday's game with knee
and ankle sprains. He didn't practice Wednesday.

--RT Jon Runyan sat out practice Wednesday with knee and shoulder
injuries, but is listed as probable for Sunday's game.

--DE N.D. Kalu, who missed last week's game with a shoulder injury,
returned to practice Wednesday and is listed as probable for Sunday's
game. He will rotate at right end with rookie Trent Cole.

GAME PLAN: The Eagles ran the ball 36 times in Monday night's loss to
the Cowboys. With Mike McMahon replacing Donovan McNabb at quarterback
Sunday, the Eagles again will try to run the ball at least 40 percent of
the time. What they want most from McMahon is a minimal amount of
mistakes. The Giants are second in the NFC in turnovers with 25.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

--Eagles FS Brian Dawkins vs. Giants TE Jeremy Shockey. Dawkins
likely will spend the most time matched up against the dangerous
Shockey.

INJURY IMPACT: With QB Donovan McNabb out, the Eagles will go with
Mike McMahon as their starter Sunday. He hasn't started a game since
2002, when he was with the Lions. ... TE L.J. Smith is questionable with
knee and ankle sprains. The Eagles badly need him as an underneath
weapon against the Giants, particularly with an inexperienced
quarterback at the helm.